8 Obsolete Car Features We Feel Nostalgic About (4 of 5)

Headlight Wipers

Headlight wipers were first made by Saab in 1970. The company already had a reputation for putting unusual features in its cars, so it was not long before other car companies did the same. The idea was for them to serve a practical purpose by ensuring drivers had visibility at all times, but not surprisingly, they evolved into something of a snooty status symbol typically found in Rolls Royces and such. But this feature went out of fashion pretty quickly. Aside from being flimsy and prone to damage, they had a tendency to disperse water and grime across the headlights. In other words, they had only one job to do, and that was the opposite!

Gated Shifters

You may have noticed that new cars with manual transmissions are getting harder and harder to find. Automatic transmission rules the day, and so we bid farewell to the stick shift that we held so dear. But don’t feel too sad; you’ll still find plenty of them in Europe and China.